Cider Chat

Interviewing cidermakers importers, orchardists, foodies, farmers and cider enthusiasts around the world. Let’s delve into the semantics of cider…or is it hard cider, cidre, sidra or fermented apple juice? The truth is out there in Ciderville and we are going to find it. We toast in celebration of cider; As a libation, a gift from the gods, a taste of terroir, and a hard pressed good time. Ready to quench your thirst? Grab a glass and join this chat! See you in Ciderville!

Kurant Cider is back on Cider Chat discussing the opening of a Tasting Room in the area of Philidelphia called Fishtown. Cider will be available to go in can and growlers at the 436 E. Girard Ave location.

The production facility will remain in Perkasie, PA

Kurant Cider is co owned by Joe Getz and Michael Meyers.

Joe is the head cidermaker at Kurant and the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Cider Guild, the commonwealth's organizing body for cider producers and apple growers in PA.

In this chat, Joe tells us about lessons learned over the past two years in regards to what is a cidery startup needs to pay attention to, news on the PA Guild work on having cider recognized as a "zone commodity" and where to find Kurant Cider this summer.

Kurant has moved around a bit finding a home from one brewery to another.

Kurant sources local juice and is able to make cider year-round.

Kurant Ciders, currently being offered on draft at many great bars in Philadelphia

Gypsy Circus Cider Company founders and makers, Stephanie & Aaron Carson, are helping to put cider on the map in Tennessee. They have two facilities with one dedicated to barrel aging ciders and the main production site which is also the location for their Gypsy Circus Taproom.

The cidery opened for business in April of 2016 and has produced over 16 ciders each with whimsical names that connect to the backdrop of their gypsy lifestyle (the couple like to travel) and to the circus life.

Names like;

Whilring Deverish - a coffee cider make with Nashville based Frothy Monkey coffee took home a gold from GLINTCAP in 2017

The Carson's pay attention to detail not only with their ciders, but also their branding. Take a look at a can of their dry cider Raindancer and listen to Aaron talk about the hidden graphics that they put on the label.

Part of the couple's success is that they are keenly aware of how the beverage market works. Aaron Carson is the author of East Tennessee Beer, the executive director for Superfly Fabulous Events, founder of Tri-Cities Craft Beer Week and Tennessee Championship of Beers. Aaron co-founded the Brewly Noted Beer Trail and started the Tri-Cities Pro Brewers Guild.

Tin Hat cidermaker Teddy Weber is stewarding a 25 year old orchard in Waitsfield Vermont. This musician by trade got his taste for cider in the UK during his music gigs while there. He teamed up with Sue and Gib Geiger who own the orchard that Teddy has been stewarding and where this chat takes place.

In this chat, Teddy and I walkabout in the orchard in Waitsfield and discuss the beginnings of Tin Hat, apple varieties, working with culinary apples for cider and culinary pears, cultured yeast vs wild yeast. His enthusiasm for apples is contagious.

Apples in this Chat

Northwestern Greening

Kerr Crabapple

Atlas

Barry Red

Honey Gold

Scott Winter

Golden Russet

Dolgo Crab

Lodi

Yellow Transparent

Red Astrican

Duchess of Oldenberg

Northern Spy

Pears

Nava

Luscious

Cidermaking techniques used

cyro-extraction - getting the juice directly from a frozen apple

cyroconcentration - the apple is pressed and then you freeze the juice

Tandem Ciders is the result of two hearts coming together in one spot of Ciderville (the east coast) and finding their way to Michigan. In the late 1990's Dan Young who was the co-owner and brewer at The People's Pint in Greenfield was full on with the craft beer scene. It was at The Pint where he met his future wife Nikki Rothwell while she was working towards her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts. With Nikki's roots in Michigan(she now works at Michigan State University's Extension specializing in Agriculture and Fruits) a trip to the UK during the courtship and the abundance of Michigan apples it was only a matter of time before Dan set his sights on cider.

Tandem Ciders buys most of their juice for their cider making locally, but they also press apples using an Oesco rack and cloth press.

The Mayador cider brand came about from a lot hard work and ingenuity. Manuel Busto Amandi born in 1906 founded his cider business originally as M.Busto in 1939. Between that time and 1966, Manuel's ingenuity kept the business growing. He had a number of innovation that were ground breaking for the cider industry.

From the Mayador History Book:

- He was the first to engrave the brand (M. BUSTO - 1959, certified by the Patent and Trademark Office in June 1946) on his cider bottles, produced in the old glass factory in Gijón. He was forty years ahead of a measure that would eventually become compulsory in the sector.

-He also promoted using 10-bottle boxes, while all other presses preferred the customary 12-bottle box; and he was a pioneer in trading cider vinegar in Spain, which up to then had only been of

domestic use.

-He was also the first to produce sterile apple juice in 1971.

But that is not all: he invented a machine to pour cider and registered it on December 4, 1964, under Patent No. 280.757.

In the early sixties the climate for cider was waning with new trendy drinks taking the stage, so he began to marketed Sparkling Cider. In 1966, his nephew Raúl García Busto, launched El Mayador as the new label.

Cider Vocabulary:

Mayar - crushing apples

Mayar season - time for crushing apples

Mayador - the person who crushes apples with a long wooden paddle

Today Mayador exports to 65 countries around the world, including the US, Japan, the UK and South America. In the US, Mayador is imported by Wine Seller LTD.